1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ultrasonic probe device having a plurality of signal lines, and more particularly to an ultrasonic probe device wherein the crosstalk among the signal lines is reduced.
2. Description of the Related Art
An ultrasonic probe device is used to form a tomogram of, for example, a human organ, which will help to diagnose human diseases. Various types of ultrasonic probe devices are known. One of them comprises a transducer unit having a plurality of transducer elements arranged in an array. An acoustic lens is located in front of the transducer unit, and an acoustic matching layer is interposed between the transducer unit and the acoustic lens. A backing member is arranged on the back of the transducer unit. Signal lines extend on the backing member, each connected to one transducer element.
The transducer elements are arranged close to one another to improve the directivity of ultrasonic waves. Thus the signal lines are also placed close to one another, and prominent crosstalk will likely be observed among the lines (or channels). To reduce the crosstalk, a variety of design schemes have been proposed, only to obtain unsatisfactory results.